Animal stall

ABSTRACT

An animal stall in which an animal is presented for milking with the udder and teats moved forward from the position when the animal stands normally to a position improving access for milking including a forward floor part fixable higher than a rear, entry, floor part whereby the animal adopts a posture other than that of the animal on a level floor.

This is a continuation of application No. 08/066,145, filed asPCT/GB91/01831, Oct. 18, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,808.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a stall to receive an animal and moreparticularly to a stall in which an animal is received for milking,especially milking by an automatic procedure.

BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART

The general techniques of automatic milking are widely known.

It is convenient that an animal to be milked by an automatic procedureis restrained to some degree as, unless the animal is very docile, It islikely to move so much that the milking procedure is interrupted. On theother hand too much or too severe restraint is very likely to upset theanimal causing excessive movement and possibly affecting milk yields.For automatic milking it is important that the animal is not deterredfrom entering a milking stall. In automatic milking procedures animalsare free to present themselves for milking at any time. If the animalhas not been milked recently It will be admitted to a stall, preparedfor milking and have the teat cluster attached, all by machinery withouthuman intervention. The quick and reliable attachment of the teatcluster is an important phase and if the animal is restless attachmentis made more difficult as the teats move and the teat cluster can notalways "track" the teats rapidly enough.

The design of the stall has been found to have considerable effect onthe readiness of animals to present themselves for an automatic milkingprocedure and on the behaviour of the animal during milking by such aprocedure. The stall design can thus have a significant adverse effecton the benefit expected from automatic milking procedures if the designmakes the animals feel uncomfortable.

One approach for stall design for automatic milking is to closelyconstrain the animal by making the stall a close fit to the animal. Thiswill reduce teat movement resulting from movement of the animal as awhole but the close fit of the stall makes the animal restless andmovement of individual legs, which is still possible, can causesignificant teat movement. If the leg movements become kicks the milkingequipment may be damaged or the animal injured.

Another approach is to constrain the rear feet so that the rear legs arerelatively still and, as a result, the teats should not move much.However the constraints, such as cross-wise slopes or barriers to urgethe feet apart or claws to restrain the feet, are not very attractivefrom the animal welfare aspect and are not very effective unlessextremely restrictive, with the above disadvantages resulting fromrestless animals.

EP-A1-0191517 shows an arrangement in which a portion of stall floorbeneath an animal in the stall can be pivotted rearwardly up against thefront of the rear legs to control the position of the legs and a furtherportion of floor, on which the rear legs are placed, slideablerearwardly to move the rear legs rearwardly. Separately or incombination these moving parts force the animal to adopt a position inwhich the rear of the animal is held against a position determiningbuffer and in which the rear legs are moved to the rear to improve theaccess to the udder. Another rearwardly pivotable plate can actsimilarly to the first one but against the front legs.

Such an arrangement exerts considerable restraint on the animal andthis, with the movement of the floor while the animal is on it, isunlikely, In accordance with present understanding, to encourage theanimal to readily enter the stall or remain in a quiet state formilking.

FR-A-2605841 discloses a mobile animal stall for a rotating milkingparlour. The animal enters the stall for milking, the stall is thenmoved in a circular path while milking takes place. The particularfeature of the stall is a floor, the front part of which moves once theanimal is in place in the stall. On entering the stall the animal isencouraged by the placing of a food trough to place its neck in a latchwhich prevents the animal from leaving the stall. The front part of thefloor, on which the front legs of the animal stand, is then raised. Thiscompels the animal to move its back legs apart and, so as not to fallbecause of the transfer of the weight of the animal to rear, not toraise the back legs. Secured in this position the attachment of teatcups is facilitated by the moved-apart back legs.

Again such an arrangement is considered unlikely to encourage the animalto enter the stall or remain quiet for milking both because of theconsiderable restraint and the movement of the floor when the animal isstanding on it.

Furthermore both such arrangements require complicated mechanisms whichare bulky and not appropriate to the arduous conditions of a milkingparlour.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an animal stallwhich mitigates the above shortcomings particularly for use withautomatic milking techniques.

According to the invention there is provided an animal stall includingfixed means in the floor of the stall to encourage an animal in thestall to raise its fore part with respect to its rear part and therebyimprove milking access to the udder and teats.

According to the invention there is provided an animal stall includingfixed means in the floor of the stall to encourage an animal in thestall to increase the angle between the rear legs and the underside ofthe body of the animal to improve milking access to the udder and teats.

More particularly the invention provides an animal milking stall forautomatic milking apparatus use in which an area of the floor of thestall for the front legs of the animal is fixed higher than an area forthe rear legs of the animal. Generally the higher area may be a singlepart but could be in more than one part.

Conveniently the two areas of the floor of the stall are fixed levelflat surfaces with a visible step between. The step may be a vertical orsloping surface.

Advantageously the floor has anti-slip properties such as a toughenedsurface or numerous localized humps. The floor may be perforated fordrainage.

According to the invention there is also provided a method of automaticmilking of an animal including encouraging or permitting an animal toenter a milking stall, visually stimulating said animal to presentitself at a milking position in a posture higher at the front of theanimal than the posture standing on a level floor, improving the accessto the udder and teats.

The posture may also encourage the animal to move the rear legs apart.The posture may also encourage the animal to move a specific rear legforwardly of the other.

The method may include causing a milking apparatus including at leastone teat cup to approach the udder and teats from the side of the animaland between the front and rear legs to apply said at least one teat cupto a teat of the animal by a movement in a direction generally from thefront to the rear of the animal presented in said posture.

The method may include moving a manger in a direction lengthwise of thestall to encourage or permit the animal to present itself in therequired posture. The manger may also be moved crosswise of the stall toencourage or permit the animal to turn its head and bend its body to oneside, thereby moving one rear leg forwardly of the other.

According to the invention there is provided a method of non-invasivelyencouraging an animal to present itself in a stall in a required posturefor automatic milking including

providing a stall with a front part of the floor fixed higher than arear part,

opening the rear of the stall for entry of the animal into the stall,

provisioning a manger at the front of the stall,

moving the manger towards the front of the stall,

closing the rear of the stall after entry of the animal into the stall,

encouraging or permitting the animal to adopt a posture with the frontfeet on the higher part of the floor,

moving the manger rearwardly to move the animal to the rear of thestall, maintaining said posture.

The invention further provides an animal stall in which an animal ispresented for milking with the udder and teats moved forward from theposition when the animal stands normally to a position improving accessfor milking by including a forward floor part fixed higher than a rear,entry, floor part whereby the animal adopts a posture other than that ofthe animal on a level floor.

When the front legs of the animal are higher than the rear legs the feetof the front legs are typically in the range 50 to 250 millimetershigher than the feet of the rear legs, but lesser or greater heights maybe used. Preferably no sideways constraints are applied to the legs orfeet of the animal, although sideways guidance may be applied to thebody of the animal. Conveniently there are means to apply such bodyguidance directly or indirectly in the lengthwise direction of theanimal.

The floor may be in sectional form, some part or parts providing a fixedhigher floor level than other part or parts. The higher floor level maybe provided by laying a floor part on a floor of lower level.

According to a particular aspect of the invention the stall includes amanger movable in the lengthwise direction of the stall.

The stall may include means to firstly move the manger away from theanimal as it enters the stall through a closable entry and secondly movethe manger towards the animal in the stall when the entry is closed,whereby the animal adopts an arched position improving access to theudder and teats for an automatic milking apparatus.

There may be a rail behind which the manger may be withdrawn to preventaccess by an animal in the stall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general view of an animal stall according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a manger arrangement for an animal stall such as that inFIGS. 1 and 8 or that in FIGS. 2 to 7,

FIG. 3 shows a simplified plan view of an animal stall according to theinvention,

FIGS. 4 and 5 show side views, also simplified, of FIG. 3 respectivelyfrom directions A and B of FIG. 3,

FIGS. 6 and 7 show details of other parts of the stall of FIG. 3,

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the stall of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 9 shows a side view of the stall of FIG. 1 with a sloping surfaceSL.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 but incorporating the other Figures asrequired the animal stall for automatic milking use is a simple robustbasic frame, conveniently of tubular metal, and constructed for longlife and easy cleaning in the harsh environment of a milking parlour,where none-the-less cleanliness is vital.

For a cow the stall is about two meters long, one meter wide and one andhalf meters high. As shown the stall has one part about one meter longof rectangular form and the other part of similar length but ofasymmetrically tapering form. There is an entry gate at the rear intothe part of rectangular form and an exit gate from the side of thetapering part. The size of the rectangular part conforms generally tothe body of the animal and the tapering part to the head and neck of theanimal. The exact constructional details of the stall are generally notcritical except as mentioned above and where set out below, beingadaptable to available or preferred materials and constructionaltechniques.

The stall shows a very important feature of the invention in that thefloor has one area fixed and visibly higher than the other. The area ofthe floor where the front feet of the animal are placed when the animalis in the stall is some 50 to at least 150 millimeters (PS) higher thanthat where the rear feet are placed. As shown the floor areas are raisedto appropriate heights above the floor but it may be that the floor forthe rear feet is level with the surroundings. Also as shown there is astep for the difference in floor height but a local steep slope may beused. Greater front floor heights (PSH) of 200 millimeters or more, asdescribed below, may be used. The area for the front feet may be in oneor more parts.

In use of the stall for automatic milking an automatic milking machineapproaches the udder of a cow in the stall to apply teat cups to theteats on the udder. Because the animal is standing with the front feetand therefore the front part of the animal higher than the rear feet andthe rear part the udder is swung forward by the increase in the anglebetween the underside of the animal and the rear legs significantlyeasing the access to the rear teats which are otherwise shielded inbetween the rear legs. Also animals standing with the front feet highermove the rear legs apart, again easing access to the udder.

The invention provides this improved posture of the animal by a frontpart of the floor raised in relation to the shape of the stall. Thispassive method of posture control avoids the active controls usedhitherto in that the animal in a stall embodying the invention receivesnon-invasive encouragement to adopt the posture and is not tightlyconstrained and thus caused to be restive. Importantly the head of theanimal is not constrained and can be turned freely, even to lookbackwards. Techniques used hitherto require the head to be tightly held,which is likely to disturb an animal.

The plan view of FIG. 3 indicates the general position of an automaticmilking machine, as described in published patent application GB A2226941, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Themilking machine, at MM, swings teat cups, one or more at a time, underthe animal behind the front legs to approach the udder from the front toattach the teat cups under the control of the milking machine andappropriate sensors. The operation of the milking machine is integratedwith the operation of the stall by a sequence of control instructions,conveniently contained in sequence of instructions in a small computer.Clearly other milking arrangements may be used.

The entry of an animal into the stall is a convenient basis fordescribing various features of the stall. As is known in automaticmilking techniques animals present themselves for milking when they wishbut can only enter for milking when sufficient time has elapsed from anearlier milking. Conveniently a checking stall precedes the milkingstall so that animals not ready for milking are diverted from causingcongestion at the entry to the actual milking stall. Assuming apresenting animal is to be milked rear gate RG is opened by a suitablelinkage, not shown in detail, and pneumatic piston and cylinder RPC.This action may be under the control of a photocell arrangement (notshown). A quantity of feed is dispensed into an angled feed manger FMthrough feed tube FT by a hopper (not shown) control led by theinstruction sequence mentioned above. The animal, encouraged if neededby the feed now in the manger, enters the stall. Front gate FG is, ofcourse, shut at present. The manger FM is movable lengthwise of thestall by a piston and cylinder MPC. A manger rail MR is fixed in thestall so that the manger can be withdrawn from access by the animal ifrequired. A manger gate MG is described later but is, at first, flushwith the side of the stall as in FIG. 1.

As the animal enters the stall via open rear gate RG to approach themanger the manger, which is initially in the rearmost or a rearwardposition, is moved forward to lead the animal into the stall and may beshut off from the animal by manger rail MR. The animal thus movesforward, sees the fixed step PS or PSH to the higher floor part HF orHFH and places its front feet on the higher floor part in seeking toreach the manger. By now the animal is inside the stall and rear gate RGcan be shut by action of the piston and cylinder RPC. The linkage forthe rear gate is arranged to lock the gate against an animal in thestall backing out. The manger FM is moved rearwards for access by theanimal. To ensure that the animal is not too far into the stall themanger can be moved rearwardly until the rear of the animal is pushedagainst the now closed rear gate RG. This can be sensed as describedbelow. The transition between the low floor, LF, and the high floor, HF,HFH, must be placed so that the animal has to keep the front feet on thehigh floor but be at the back of the stall. It may be that if animals ofvery different sizes are to be milked the transition point has to bevaried e.g. by raising or lowering portions of the floor, such ascross-wise strips STR, which are then, at least temporarily, fixed inposition before the animal enters and sees the strips. This may be doneIn response to the checking of the animal presenting for milking, whenthe size will be known. Suitable sensors will be readily apparent.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the posture which the invention encourages the animalto adopt, the head forward and down into the manger set at an angle, thefront feet raised to raise the line of the back above the horizontal andthus increase the angle between the body and the rear legs to swing theudder forward to reveal the rear teats. A space of some 50 millimetersbetween each teat and the nearest leg is preferred. This posture isbelieved to be comfortable for cows, as these animals readily stand forsome time with their front feet on a surface higher than their rear feetand are observed to be calm in a stall which embodies the invention. Itis helpful if an animal can be still for five to ten seconds at a timeto permit attachment of a teat cup.

The animal having the required posture, with the adjustment of themanger if needed, the milking machine can be put into action to attachthe teat cups to the teats, milk the animal and detach and withdraw theteat cups. This process can be one of several now known and is onlydescribed further where relevant.

The stall is provided with side guide, SG1 and SG2 linked by link SGL,which close gently on the animal when It is in the stall, through theaction of a piston and cylinder SGPC. (It should be noted that all thepistons and cylinders are fitted with position transducers so that theiraction and position can be checked and used by the control instructionsequence.) The action of the piston and cylinder centralises the animalin the stall be gentle pressure under the control of sensors SGS and thecontrol instruction sequence.

Similarly the rear gate, pivotted on frame part GP, has rear gatesensors RGS which ensure that the animal is caused to be at the rearwardposition in the stall for example by sending control signals to move themanger.

Information from the sensors SGS and RGS is used to guide the milkingmachine when seeking to attach the teat cups, although the final seekingis conveniently via sensors on a teat cup carrier. The manger movementcan also be used and sensed if needed. The sensors SGS and RGS includepistons and cylinders and position transducers as mentioned above.

FIG. 6 shows details of the sensor RGS. Two "paddles" RGP1, RGP2 arepivotted on the gate from a common shaft and linked via an arm fast tothe shaft to a piston and cylinder arrangement RGSPC. The position ofthe paddles is sensed by position transducer RGT attached between thelink arm and the gate. FIG. 7 shows details of the sensor SGS. Two"paddles" SGP1, SGP2 are pivotted on the stall frame on respectiveshafts and linked via arms fast to the shafts to a piston and cylinderarrangement SGSPC. The positions of the paddles are sensed by positiontransducers SGT1, SGT2 attached between the link arms and the stallframe.

In operation the side guides SG1, SG2 close gently on the animal and thesensor paddles SGP1, SGP2 are urged against the animal by cylinderSGSPC. The position of the animal in the sideways sense can then betracked by the transducers connected to the paddles. Notches in the sideguides clear the movement of the paddles.

Once milking is finished the teat cups are withdrawn from the udder andthe animal can be released. To do this the manger FM is moved forward tobe obstructed by the manger rail MR and the front gate FG opened. Amanger gate MG can be used if needed to further obstruct the manger andurge the head of the animal toward the open gate FG. Front gate FG isoperated by piston and cylinder FPC and manger gate MG by piston andcylinder MGPC. The animal leaves the stall through gate FG and the cycleof entry and milking can continue with another animal. In an emergency,or if the pneumatic supply fails, gate FG can be pushed open by ananimal.

A photoelectric sensor (not shown) can be arranged to sense the presenceof an animal in the stall so that entry of another animal, even into achecking stall, can be delayed.

It is assumed that all the appropriate washing and other hygienemeasures will be applied, as is well-known in the art.

As shown in the drawings the milking machine enters the stall from theside shown in FIG. 4 and a large aperture is provided in the lower partof the stall framework to give access for the machine. It is convenientthat as much as possible of the pneumatic equipment and pneumatic powerand electrical signal connections are on the side near the milkingmachine and control equipment and some complexity of mechanical linkagemay be worthwhile to achieve this. The step provided by the raised floorpart is very useful in increasing the ease of access under the animalfor a milking robot.

It is possibly useful for the rear leg nearer the milking machine to beencouraged to be on a line to the rear of the leg further from themachine, as shown in FIG. 5. To achieve this selective floor treatmentcan be used, for example gentle vibration or slight instability of areaswhich correspond to unwanted feet positions. Another technique is tooffset the manger, in the illustrated arrangement, towards gate MG. Theoffset may be by pivotal or sideways movement. The offset of the mangercan encourage the animal to turn to one side in the stall and so movethe rear legs to the required position.

in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 8 the step, PSH, is of some200 millimeters. It has been found that the more arched position adoptedby an animal when the floor parts have this height difference is evenbetter for milking access, while the manger can be lower, encouragingthe position. The vertical and horizontal position, and tilt, of themanger can be controlled as required. This more arched position is foundto be very effective in that cows remain calm, possibly because thelower head position is close to the natural grazing position. Featuresnot shown in detail in FIG. 8 are generally similar to those shown inthe other Figures.

FIG. 9 corresponds to the embodiment of FIG. 8 but has a sloping surfaceSL between two flat surfaces of the floor of the stall.

In one arrangement including a stall embodying the invention togetherwith a checking stall and an automatic milking machine which "picks"individual teat cups from a magazine about half a minute is needed foran animal to enter the stall and adopt the milking posture, with thegates then closed. About one-and-one-half minutes is needed for the fourteat cups to be applied singly to the respective teats. Milking takesabout five minutes to complete, whereupon the teat cups are released andthe animal can leave the stall. By using the well-known "quarter"milking arrangement each quarter of the udder can be milked to theappropriate amount and the teat cup released. "Quarter" milking alsokeeps the milk from each quarter separate if any checks are required.

Pneumatic operation is used throughout to permit safe, gentle action ofthe arrangement.

Comparisons have been made between stalls with a "step" floor asdescribed above, and other floor treatments such as lengthwise ridgesand "cobbling" of strips across the floor where the cows should notstand. The "step" floor appears to give calmer cows in a more-easilymilked posture.

We claim:
 1. A closeable animal stall for milking including:a closeableentry; and fixed floor means in a floor of a stall, said fixed floormeans comprising a rear entry floor part and a forward floor partextending substantially to a front of said stall, said forward floorpart being fixed higher than said rear entry floor part whereby a stepis formed between said forward floor part and said rear entry floorpart; said forward floor part and said rear entry floor part beingdimensioned such that when the animal is presented for milking it ispositioned with the rear legs on said rear entry floor part of saidstall and encouraged to raise its fore-part with respect to its rearpart and thereby increase an angle between the rear legs and anunderside body of the animal, thereby improving milking access to anudder and teats of the animal.
 2. A closeable animal stall according toclaim 1, wherein:said forward floor part and said rear entry floor partof said stall are fixed level flat surfaces with said step therebetween.3. A closeable animal stall according to claim 2, wherein:said stepincludes a vertical surface between said forward floor part and saidrear entry floor part.
 4. A closeable animal stall according to claim 2,wherein:said step includes a sloping surface between said forward floorpart and said rear entry floor part.
 5. A closeable animal stallaccording to claim 1, wherein:said step is between about 50 and 250millimeters high.
 6. A closeable animal stall according to claim 5,wherein:said stall includes no sideways constraint for application tothe legs or feet of the animal.
 7. A closeable animal stall according toclaim 6, wherein:said step is between about 50 and 250 millimeters high.8. A closeable animal stall according to claim 1, wherein:said fixedfloor means is at least in part movable between fixed positions toprovide fixed floor areas for animals of different size.
 9. A closeableanimal stall according to claim 1, wherein:said forward floor part ofsaid stall is higher than said rear entry floor part of said stall bysignificantly more than a mere drainage gradient.
 10. A closeable animalstall according to claim 1, wherein:said fixed floor means includes atleast one retractable floor area which retracts from a first position aspart of said forward floor part to a second position as part of saidrear entry floor part, said at least one retractable floor areapresenting an adjustable fixed floor means to accomodate animals ofdifferent size.
 11. A closeable animal stall according to claim 10,wherein:said step is between about 50 and 250 millimeters high.